Chief assistant prosecutor faces drunk driving charges

Duane Beach, the chief assistant prosecutor with the Emmet County Prosecutor's Office, has been charged with two misdemeanor counts following an operating while intoxicated arrest on Jan. 19.

Beach, 62, is currently on leave from the office he has worked at since 2006.

A message seeking comment left at his home Tuesday was not returned by press time today, Wednesday. James Linderman, the Emmet County prosecutor, declined to comment on the specific case, stating, "I'm totally excluded from the process, the case has been forwarded to the (state) Attorney General for assignment of a special prosecutor."

According to a case file, the Michigan State Police pulled over Beach's vehicle on Greenwood Road, near Maxwell Road, in Springvale Township southeast of Petoskey on Jan. 19.

Five witnesses at the scene and to the arrest were identified in the file, including a member of the city of Petoskey's Public Safety Department. Beach was arrested and released after posting a $200 cash bond at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 20.

He faces two charges -- operating with a high BAC (high blood alcohol content of .17 or higher), a misdemeanor with a punishment of 180 days in jail and $700 fine; open container in vehicle, a misdemeanor with a punishment of 90 days in jail.

Although Linderman and 90th District Court Judge James Erhart were initially listed in court documentation immediately after the arrest, both requested removal or reassignment from the case. It has been reassigned to be prosecuted by Cheboygan County prosecutor Daryl Vizina and to be heard in front of 87th District Court Judge Patricia Morse in Gaylord. A pre-trial conference has been set for 9 a.m. on Feb. 20.